Lego House
by Gleefulbabe
Summary: When Emily leaves Alanwood she is adopted by Lydia Davis, once again being immersed in the world she thought was gone forever. She struggles with her new family, friends and school but maybe with the help of the school Guidance Counselor, Mr. Mathis, she can find a way to be happy again. And what happens when she starts to fall for him? Could her feelings ever be reciprocated? AU
1. Chapter 1

**Hi again **** I know I'm supposed to be working on Scared of The Good More Than The Evil but I had a dream about this last night and I immediately knew it was the story I was born to write! I've got a couple of chapters of Scared written so they will keep coming but I'll also work on this. This chapter is just kinda to set things up so forgive me if it's a bit boring at the moment! This story isn't about Emily getting revenge. It's pretty much AU but with some canon aspects… Truth is, I don't fully know yet! Please bear with me and leave me a review with any thoughts, comments or desires you may possess! Love you all! **

Emily had never felt so out of place as she did when she first entered the Davis household. It was like no other foster home she had been in before; elegant, spotless, huge… it was like the White House in comparison to every other one she had experienced since her father was taken away from her. This time it was different though, Emily no longer had to live in fear of having to move on but that didn't mean that she didn't. She had been adopted by Lydia Davis, a kind woman who did a lot of great work with the Alanwood Juvenile Detention Centre. Lydia had taken a shine to the sixteen year and ultimately decided to take the teen into her own home, knowing that the unstable environment in which she had grown up was one of the main reasons she ended up in Alanwood. She had a son of her own, Tyler, who was nearly eighteen. She had been married but her husband had cheated on her and they were divorced three years ago.

Despite the welcome change, Emily was still wary. She could never allow herself to open up to anyone for fear of being taken away again or being hurt. She was terrified of actually growing to love a family only to have to move on again not half a year later. Uncertainty was part and parcel of her life and she couldn't just believe that was going to change all of a sudden even though she was now legally Lydia's daughter. Lydia had a son of her own, Tyler, who was nearly eighteen. She and Tyler's father were divorced not three years ago after he cheated on her. That was what had driven her to work with the Alanwood centre; the divorce had left her millions richer and she wanted to put some of that to good use. What better way, she thought, than to help corrupted kids turn their lives around and make a good future for themselves?

Emily stood just inside the door of her new bedroom and stared at what was before her. Ever since Lydia had shown her to the room twenty minutes prior, she had not been able to do anything else. Emily should have been relieved or happy, she knew that, but yet it felt wrong. She had a large room to herself with a huge double bed and everything she could possibly need or want. The walls were painted cream with a tasteful feature wall behind the bed with ornate gold wallpaper. Her closet was bigger then the room she had at Alanwood and it was stocked with all these designer clothes in every colour imaginable with shoes and accessories to match. She had gone from having everything to nothing and back to everything again and it seemed way too good to be true.

There was a sudden knock on the door and Emily nearly jumped out of her skin. She was so caught up in her reverie that she had not heard anyone coming. When she turned around she saw Lydia standing there with an apologetic look on her face. _This is it,_ Emily concluded, _she's come to tell me that she made a mistake and I can't stay here._

"I'm sorry; I didn't mean to startle you. I just wanted to check if you were settling in okay," the kind woman said in a soft tone.

Emily relaxed a little. So she hadn't come to tell her not to bother unpacking. "Yes, thank you, I'm doing fine," she replied but hardly believed herself.

Lydia frowned. "Is that why you haven't moved from the spot?" she asked and didn't get an answer. "I know this is difficult but please make try to make yourself at home. This _is _your home now Emily. There will be no more changing around like you did before Alanwood, I promise. The sooner you try to let all the past bad things go, the sooner you will feel happy. That's all I want."

"Why do you even care?" the vulnerable sixteen year old had to ask. No-one was ever nice to her just for the sake of it. They always wanted something.

She smiled sadly and stroked her adopted daughter's golden hair. "I know it's not what you're used to but, Emily, I want you to know that I really do care about you. You're part of family now. I'm not going to send you away. You're going to live here and you're going to go school… you, Tyler and I are going to be a family. I know it's going to take a lot of adjusting but I'm sure that soon enough you will be happy here." Emily just stared at her feet. "Tell you what; you don't have to unpack your stuff right away. Dinner is going to be ready in a few minutes, why don't you come downstairs and you can get to know Tyler better?" Lydia wondered, trying to make the poor girl feel a bit better.

That was the last thing Emily wanted to do but she didn't want to be rude to the woman who had done so much for her. She made a weak attempt at a fake smile. "That sounds good."

When they reached the sitting room, Tyler was sitting on one of the luxurious couches with his legs tucked beneath him using an expensive looking laptop. Upon their entry he glanced up for a second before his eyes returned to the screen. He said nothing. Lydia frowned at her former only child. "Tyler, why don't you put that thing away for a while?"

He glared at the two women. "Do I have to?"

"Yes, you do," his mother answered him firmly. She sat down on one of the larger couches and gestured for her newly adopted daughter to sit down next to her. Emily obliged, though her every movement was awkward. Tyler huffed as he closed the laptop and placed it on the coffee table. "Tyler this is Emily, Emily this is my son Tyler. He's a senior in the school you will be attending on Monday. He likes it very much and I'm sure you will too. Isn't that right, Ty?"

He shrugged. "I guess."

"I know the parents of most of the students and they'll all good kids, are they not?" Again he shrugged but this time said nothing. "The teachers are all very helpful too. I'm sure that you won't find fault with the school."

A maid entered the room. "Dinner is served, Ms Davis."

Lydia smiled at her. "Thank you Elaine," she said and stood up. By that time Tyler had already left the room. Emily had just met him and already despised him. She immediately knew it would be a miracle if they could get along. Not that she wanted to anyway; she was more than happy to stay out of his way. Lydia sighed at the atrocious behaviour of her son before leading the newest addition to the family to the dining room.

The meal was far better than anything Emily could ever remember getting. She had forgotten what it was like to get good home-cooked food. While they ate, Emily tried to keep her head down and focus on her food thus ignoring Tyler's scowling but was kept from doing so by Lydia's constant small talk. She appreciated that the matriarch was trying to make her feel at least comfortable if not yet at home but all the sixteen year old felt like doing was eat her dinner as quick as possible and go up to her room.

Emily felt completely overwhelmed by the change of scenery and needed to adjust in her own time. Tyler's sulking was not at all helpful. She understood that he felt like she was intruding, she felt so too, but there was an arrogant and obnoxious air about him that she hated.

Eventually Emily could take it no longer. "I'm not feeling well, is it okay if I go to bed early?" she asked quietly.

Lydia looked at the young girl with concern. "It's only eight o'clock. Are you alright?"

She nodded. "Yeah, it's just been a long day. I'm just kind of exhausted…"

"That's understandable. Would you like anything? I could have Elaine bring you up some tea or hot chocolate."

Emily shook her head. "I'm okay. Thank you for the lovely dinner though," she added to make her new mother feel better.

"You're welcome. If you get thirsty or hungry during the night the kitchen is just through there," Lydia pointed an open set of double doors, "Sleep well."

"Thanks," she smiled falsely before standing up and making her way as quickly as she could to the stairs.

When she was gone Lydia frowned at her son. "You could have made her feel more welcome," she chastised the seventeen year old, "You promised you would. Do you know how hard this is for her?"

Tyler arched an eyebrow. "In that case, I guess I'll get out the welcome wagon!" he said sarcastically.

"There's no need to be so smart."

"You know what most people get for their eighteenth birthday? A car or something like that but, no, I get an ex-convict!"

Lydia gave her soon a disappointed look. "There's no need to be so cruel, Tyler. You don't know how lucky you are to have a life like you do. You have no idea what that girl has gone through in her life. The last thing she needs is to come into a family and have her new brother act like she doesn't even exist."

"Whatever," he said bluntly, "May I be excused? Daniel and I were kind of in the middle of a conversation before."

His mother sighed. "Alright, just try to be nice, okay?"

Tyler smiled falsely. "Oh I sure she and I are going to be _best_ friends," he said sarcastically before leaving the table.

Despite how tired she was, Emily found herself unable to fall asleep that night. The bed was extremely comfortable but it felt very strange to be living in such luxury. Lydia was really nice; she wasn't sure that should make her feel more at ease but it didn't. If anything it made her feel even more anxious than if she been with another family. Emily was so scared that she wouldn't live up to their standards. Once upon a time she had been from the same world but that seemed like a lifetime ago now. Sometimes she thought it would have been easier if she had had a bad childhood instead of falling from a height. Becoming part of that world again only set her up for an even bigger fall.

It was nights like this that Emily always ended up thinking about her father, the one person she loved more than anything. He had been her knight in shining armour when she was a little girl. David had always taken care of her and she knew that he loved her just as much as she loved him. The night he was taken away, her whole world turned upside down. A single tear trickled down her cheek; Emily had cried so many times that that was all she could give the subject anymore. Crying her eyes out every night was futile. This time was different, however. Emily let the tears fall freely; she was back where it all began.


	2. Chapter 2

**Thank you all for the reviews and alerts! I promise this story will get a lot more interesting, I just have to get through these awkward set-up chapters first. I'm dying to get to the good stuff but I have to get all of this out of the way first. I really hope you're liking this story so far! Let me know what you think **

**Chapter 2**

"Ah, Victoria," Lydia smiled as she met her best friend in the foyer. The two women hugged. "And Daniel, how nice to see you! Tyler just got out of the shower if you want to wait for him," she told the lovely boy.

"That would be great Ms. Davis," Daniel smiled, his dark brown eyes becoming smaller as they always did.

Victoria looked around briefly yet with great curiosity. "We came to meet your new addition. Is she in?" She was really looking forward to meeting her best friend's newest project. Victoria had been completely shocked when Lydia broke the news to her and she even went as far as to try to convince the blond that this was a bad idea, the girl was a juvenile delinquent after all, but the divorcée wouldn't hear a word of it. She was adamant.

Lydia nodded. "She's up in her room, why don't you make yourselves at home in the sitting room and I'll go get her." There was no denying that she was dying to show Victoria the newest member of her family. She had been excited for weeks.

"Of course, come Daniel," she said leading him through the archway that led to the sitting room.

Her son was also very much intrigued about Tyler's new sister. It was his mother who suggested he come, but Daniel had already planned to accompany her.

Lydia hurried upstairs and knocked on her adopted daughter's door. "Come in," Emily called unenthusiastically.

The matriarch stepped inside. The newest member of the family was sitting on the bed dressed in a simple pair of denim jeans and a form fitting blue t-shirt. Lydia made a mental note to help her to pick out clothes from her new wardrobe. "We have some visitors that would like to meet you. Do you want to come downstairs?" she asked softly, not wanting to put pressure on the shy girl.

Emily nodded and followed her new mother. She was nervous about meeting her adopted family's high society friends. The sixteen year was hardly the most refined of girls and she was worried she wouldn't be accepted- no, she _knew _she wouldn't be accepted. They would pretend to bear her for Lydia's sake but Emily knew that she would always be an outsider.

She entered the living room behind her new mother and their guests stood. "Emily this is Victoria Grayson, my best friend, and her son, Tyler's best friend, Daniel."

Victoria smiled falsely and shook the young girl's hand. "It's a pleasure to meet you. Lydia has been talking about you for so long." She appraised the young girl; she was slender but her hips were womanly, not that those terribly fitted jeans did anything to recommend her figure, and her hair was golden and hung in delicate waves a few inches below her shoulder but it was her eyes that immediately caught Victoria's attention. They were the deepest chocolate brown in colour and held a coldness that she had only seen once before and that was in the mirror. Her interest was immediately piqued.

Emily smiled timidly but not sincerely. "It's lovely to meet you too," she lied. There was nothing she wanted less than to meet her new adopted family's pretentious friends.

Daniel studied the girl with intrigue. "Hi," he waved, a little bit shy himself. He, of course, immediately noticed her beauty but there was a certain air about her that drew him in even more. She wasn't like any of the girls he knew.

She waved back awkwardly. "Hi."

"So you're Emily?" he asked.

She frowned and nodded. "Yeah, I am."

At that moment Tyler came through the door, "Daniel-" he began but stopped when he saw that _she _was there too. There was no way he was sharing his friend as well as his home and his mother.

Victoria smiled at him. "We were just meeting the newest addition to your family. You must be delighted to have a sister," she asked albeit fully aware that that was not the case.

Tyler grimaced. "Absolutely thrilled. Come on Daniel, let's go."

Daniel frowned. "Sorry, nice to meet you," he said before leaving.

Lydia took one look at Emily and immediately knew that she was extremely uncomfortable. The funny thing was this was not the Emily that she had gotten to know. Of course she had experienced a wretched childhood but Lydia had never seen it way so heavily on her as it did since she joined the family and she hadn't the slightest clue as to how to undo that. Lydia knew all she could do was try to make her feel comfortable. "You don't have to stay here with us if you don't want to. This house is yours now, feel free to do whatever you want," she said kindly.

"I think I might take a walk on the beach, if that's okay…"

The older woman nodded. "Of course."

"Nice to meet you Mrs. Grayson," she said politely before leaving.

Lydia frowned and sat down next to her friend. "She's very shy. I think she's having a hard time settling in. And Tyler has been less than welcoming…"

Victoria nodded. "I could see that. Give them both time. I must say, Lydia, I really admire your taking in a juvenile delinquent but aren't you worried? She's just spent three years in Alanwood…"

"It was her foster parents' word against hers; she never stood a chance. Emily's a good kid. She's just misunderstood." The divorcée truly believed that. She knew the circumstances in which Emily ended up in Alanwood and they were more than questionable. She deserved a life much better than the one she lived for so long.

The brunette arched an eyebrow. "Misunderstood? I see. Well, I'm sure either way you'll make her into a fine young woman. I certainly see potential. Will she be attending school tomorrow?"

Lydia nodded. "She's a very smart girl, I'm sure she'll like it."

"One can only hope."

When Emily reached the beach, she took off her shoes and sat down on the soft sand. It was quite warm for mid-February but there was a cold breeze blowing in from the ocean. She looked to her left and saw that further down the beach Tyler and Daniel were throwing a football around. It made her feel sick that they were so carefree. Emily would have given anything to feel that way again, just like when she was a child before her whole life was torn apart.

Since then, it was seldom that she felt anything but anger and fear. She had been through things the likes of Tyler and Daniel would only ever experience in their worst nightmares. Her emotions weighed heavy on her and that was a reason Emily was finding it so hard to relax in her new home. She wasn't programmed to be at ease.

Emily looked at Tyler and his friend again and saw that about six more boys had joined them. The sight terrified the sixteen year old as it reminded her of what she was about to face the next day. Emily had developed very thick skin over the past seven years but feared that this blade may be a bit too sharp.

The next morning Emily woke up feeling sick to her stomach. She was not ready to go to a school where she knew practically no-one and everyone looked down on her. And she had to wear a uniform which made things even worse. Emily didn't want to wear knee high navy socks and a plaid skirt. That just wasn't her. Coming home to someone else's house had been nothing in compare to the fears she had about joining this school but there was nothing she could do about it. Emily had to go, she had no choice.

Grudgingly, she pulled on said despicable uniform and scrutinized herself in the full length mirror. She had to admit that it didn't look half as bad on. The skirt fell just above her knew and with the socks made her legs look long and feminine. Emily hated it on principle though. Her appearance gave the illusion that she was posh and upper class but everyone would know different. They would spot the pretender immediately. She couldn't fool them; nor did she want to for that matter. Emily wasn't ashamed of where she came from.

She went downstairs to have breakfast and found that Lydia and Tyler were already seated at the table, with a variety of foods spread out on the table. There was everything from fruit to pancakes. The former smiled widely when she saw Emily enter. "That uniform really suits you. Are you excited?" she wondered good-naturedly.

The sixteen year old sat down. "I'm more nervous than anything," she willingly admitted.

"That's completely understandable. I have no doubt, however, that you will be fine. You should eat something. It might settle your nerves."

Emily nodded and bit into a slice of toast. She wasn't hungry but she didn't want Lydia to fuss over her. She ate it slowly and washed it down with a glass of orange juice, freshly squeezed no less. Tyler finished his waffles and stood up. "I'm going to go, see you later mom."

"Wait for Emily, Tyler. The two of you can walk together," Lydia told him.

That did not sit well with Tyler. His jaw clenched and he reluctantly sat back down again. It was clear that he had no wish to arrive at school with her.

The young girl took one last sip of juice and picked up her bag. "Thanks for breakfast Lydia."

The matriarch smiled. "No problem, honey. Good luck with your first day."

Tyler had already gone ahead. "Thanks," Emily replied briefly before following him. Her adopted brother walked as quickly as he could so naturally she fell behind but she was far from minding. The blond didn't think she could stand any more awkward silences with Tyler brooded.

It didn't take long for them to reach the private school, which was only a few blocks away from their house. The building looked old but elegant almost like an understated castle. There were students gathered in groups outside and some making their way into the building. Tyler hurried inside and Emily decided to follow suit. She kept her head down as everyone's eyes were drawn to the student they had never seen before. They whispered in their groups but Emily ignored them.

She continued on in search of the reception area, knowing she had gone too far when she reached the end of the corridor. Emily quickly turned around but bumped into someone in the process. She almost lost her balance but a firm grip steadied her. The blond blushed bright red. "Are you okay?" the foreign accent asked and she looked up to see she was being held not by one of the students but one of the staff. He seemed to be in his late twenties or early thirties with light brown hair and crystal blue eyes.

Emily nodded. "Sorry, I was just looking for the reception…"

The man smiled. "Ah, you're the new girl. Welcome. Keep going down this hall and there's a small corridor to the left. It's down at the end of that," he told her helpfully, "They really should sign-post it actually, everyone gets lost on their first day," he joked.

"Thanks," she said quickly before setting off back in the direction that she came, aware that she had even more eyes on her now. Emily just wanted this day to be over already.


	3. Chapter 3

**I really enjoyed writing this chapter and I hope you will enjoy reading it. Sorry I forgot in the last chapter but to the Guest who asked what parts I dreamt and what I added in- I actually dreamt that Aiden was the Guidance Counsellor in my old school and that all the girls (definitely not including me *cough, cough*) were queuing up to talk about their problems :P I thought it would be a good idea to adapt it. **

**Chapter- 3**

The red-haired woman behind the desk looked Emily up and down with her cobalt eyes. "You must be the new student," she assumed. Everyone in the Hamptons had heard about Lydia Davis' latest venture.

Emily nodded. "I'm Emily Thorne," she said, wanting to get this encounter over with as quick as possible. Though she knew the middle-aged woman wouldn't be the last to scrutinise her that day.

"Well, Ms Thorne, this," she slid a sheet over the counter top towards her, "is your timetable. All the room numbers are written in the slot with each subject along with the name of the teacher. Your locker is number 521 and it's right at the end of the corridor next to the science labs. Your first class starts in ten minutes. That's basically everything you need to know. I hope you enjoy the school," she told her, sounding less than sincere.

To Emily it seemed that she was trying to guess how long she would last in a school like this. From the smile she wore the blond assumed it wasn't long. "Thanks," she said with a fake smile before leaving the room again.

As she walked down the corridor, Emily scrutinised her time table. Her first class was Arithmetic. She frowned. Why couldn't they just call it Math like every other school? The more she read, the more Emily realised just how pretentious this school was. She had Sociology later in the day, followed by Humanities. What kind of school taught those? Fitness took the place of Gym. Emily scoffed and shoved her timetable into her bag. She already hated it there.

When she finally reached her locker, she found it was the very last one; the furthest away from all the classes. Emily actually liked that. She wouldn't be surrounded a mass of spoilt rich kids. Looking at her watch, she suddenly realised that the bell would ring any moment and tossed her bag into her locker, taking only her schedule, _Math _book and her Biology book. Emily immediately went to find classroom four, allowing a small bit of time for the possibility of her getting lost again.

That reminded her of the embarrassing moment she'd already experienced that day, even before any class had started. Emily wondered if the man would be one of her teachers; he seemed friendly and nice. She also liked his accent. _Maybe this school wouldn't be _so_ bad if most of my teachers were like him_, she mused.

The bell rang just before Emily located the classroom. Her stomach tightened as she thought about walking in there to all of her classmates. If they were anything like Tyler, she was sure she would hate every single one of them. She took a deep breath before quickly exhaling, preparing herself. Emily stepped inside the door, praying that she could just slip in without anyone noticing. That was never going to happen as immediately all eyes were on her. The class was already full save one seat in the middle of the classroom next to a boy with floppy blond hair. There was an air about him that was far less intimidating than that of the others.

She sheepishly made her way down to that desk, ignoring all the staring and whispering. The boy looked up at her with an intrigued smile. "Is this seat taken?"

The boy shook his head and even pulled out the chair for her. "It's all yours." Emily smiled with gratitude and placed her books down on the desk before sitting down. "So you're the new girl? I have to admit, you're not really what I was expecting. I'm Nolan," he introduced himself, sticking out his hand.

The blond girl looked at it for a moment before shaking it. "Emily. Thanks for letting me sit here."

"Well, unless you wanted to sit on Mr Murphy's lap, I'm guessing this was your only choice," he said with a mischievous grin.

Emily looked around again briefly and saw that everyone was still staring at her. "I guess that's true."

"So what's living with Tyler like? I bet he's just as _delightful _at home as he is at school," Nolan asked, his voice full of sarcasm.

Fortunately, Emily didn't get to answer that question as at that moment the teacher entered the room and called the class to order. Mr Murphy seemed to be in his mid-fifties with white hair. Emily couldn't quite figure out his temperament yet. His eyes immediately went to the unfamiliar face occupying the only previously unoccupied seat. "It's good to have you with us, Ms Thorne," was all he said before commencing his lesson. Emily was thankful he hadn't asked her to introduce herself to the class. The again, she guessed they were above that in this school.

Emily was relieved when the bell rang again, signalling the end of that torturous class. She had never been mathematically gifted but then again, she hadn't really had the chance to become so. She closed her book and stood up, gathering the rest in her arms.

"Congratulations; you have officially survived your first class," Nolan said playfully. "What do you have next?"

"Biology." Emily was a little more at ease with that. She'd always liked biology, even it was being taught by a dishonourably discharged male teacher in juvie.

He smiled. "Well you're in luck because that's what I have now too. It must be fate!"

She smiled genuinely for what seemed like the first time in a very long time. Emily was definitely glad that the only free seat had been next to Nolan. She could already tell that he was different from all the students. He felt like an easy person to be around. "Definitely."

They made their way to one of the labs by her locker and Nolan directed her where to sit. On the way in they passed a familiar face. "Emily," Daniel Grayson smiled and stood up, "It's good to see you again."

"You too, Daniel," she said half-heartedly, still unsure of Tyler's best friend. So far, he had given her no reason to believe he wasn't a nice guy but if he was friends with Tyler then she had to question his character or his sanity.

The girl sitting next to him suddenly seemed very interested. "Daniel, care to introduce us?" the English girl asked. She was beautiful; tanned skin, brown eyes and a glistening smile.

"Ashley this is Emily, Tyler's new sister."

Ashley smiled widely but it wasn't convincing. "It's so lovely to meet you. Any sister of Tyler's is a friend of ours," Emily resisted the urge to roll her eyes, "Would you like to sit with us? There's plenty of room."

"Nice to meet you to but I'm afraid I'm going to have to decline," she was getting good at this, "I already have a lab partner," Emily gestured in the direction of Nolan who was now occupying one of the back benches.

Ashley frowned. "That's a shame. I'm sure we'll get the opportunity to sit together in another class."

She nodded. "Maybe. Talk to you later," Emily said before taking her place next to Nolan.

"I see you've already met Danny Boy. I hope you feel honoured that the golden boy spoke to you," he teased.

She shrugged. "He and his mother came to visit yesterday, I spoke to him for like thirty seconds."

"Ah, so you've met the Queen of the Hamptons?"

She frowned. "Whom?"

He rolled his eyes. "Before long you'll know all about it, don't worry. His mother, Victoria- I like to call her Ursula- practically runs the Hamptons. Smashing woman."

"Ashley is his girlfriend, I assume?" She was exactly what the blond pictured when she thought of pupils of this school.

Nolan scoffed. "She wishes. Everyone in the school knows how sweet she is on Daniel… except Daniel that is. He's never been the most perceptive."

Emily looked in their direction and arched an eyebrow. Ashley was fixing Daniel's hair playfully and giggling at the same time. It was so blatant that she was flirting that Daniel must have been blind. He seemed completely oblivious to the fact that Ashley wanted more than friendship. "I'll bet."

The cafeteria was nothing like Emily had seen before. All it was short were table cloths and candlesticks. There was every kind of food available and even a fresh salad counter with various dressings. Most of the girls crowded around that while the boys didn't care so much. Neither did Emily for that matter. She had what was marked as a 'gourmet burger' and 'frites' which was just a fancy word for fries. The slightest things grated on her. It was a subtle reminder of how out of her dept she was.

Nolan brought her to a table where a girl and a boy were already sitting. They looked up at her and smiled which was very refreshing. "Jack, Amanda, this is Emily, the new girl," he introduced her as they sat down.

Amanda smiled widely at her. She was just as beautiful as Ashley but in a different way. She had dough eyes and a round face that was framed by dark blond curls. "So you're who everyone has been talking about… don't believe a word those idiots say. It's nice to meet you." It was immediately evident to Emily why she and Nolan were friends; they didn't have the same outlook as their fellow students. "This is my boyfriend Jack."

Jack seemed just as easy going as his girlfriend. He had dark hair, brown eyes and a welcoming smile. "Nice to meet you. How do you like the school so far?"

Emily paused. "It's… different from what I'm used to."

"Don't worry; we're the non-judging group unlike everyone else around here. There are more important things than where you're from and your bank account," Amanda said sincerely.

The man that she had bumped into that morning walked by their table and gave her a reassuring smile. Emily frowned. "Who's that?" she asked, lowering her tone slightly.

They all looked up. "That's Mr Mathis. He's the Guidance Counsellor. Hot isn't he?" Amanda said with a crooked smile.

"Hey!" Jack nudged her, "I'm sitting right here!" he joked and his girlfriend gave him a quick kiss for his troubles. Emily guessed that they were one of those sickeningly cute couples. She liked them nonetheless, however. Just like Nolan they seemed easy to get along with. The fact that they weren't stuck up was a major plus.

She laughed. "Relax; you're the only one for me."

"I was just asking because I ran into him this morning. Literally. It was pretty embarrassing…" the new student cringed when she remembered the incident. Mr Mathis was obviously attractive which made it worse.

Jack shrugged. "He's a cool guy; he probably thought it was funny."

She wanted to say that that didn't help in the slightest but refrained from doing so. Emily had no idea why she even cared so much. He was just a teacher. "Maybe" was what she settled for.

By the end of lunch, Emily was sure she had made three good friends. They were all great and wanted to help her in any way they could, be it someone to talk to or help catching up in certain subjects. The blond was definitely relieved to have made some friends so easily. That had definitely been a major worry of hers. Emily was sure that Amanda was excited to have another girl in the group.

Not once did any of them bring up her previous or current familial situation. They knew that everyone would likely be asking about that and decided to let her talk in her own time once she felt comfortable doing so. Emily couldn't have asked for anymore. So far, things were going well.

**Please fell free to leave a comment about any particular thought you may have. I won't bite, I promise! Thanks for reading **


	4. Chapter 4

**A massive thank you to everyone who reviewed the last chapter! It's nice to see that people are interested in this story **** I'm going to try my best to update every few weeks. Sorry this chapter isn't as long as normal but I wanted to get it up today as I'm going away for the weekend and won't be back until Monday. With all that said, here's the latest chapter.**

**Chapter 4**

After lunch, Emily walked to History with Amanda as both Nolan and Jack were taking Geography. Everyone still stared as she walked by but it didn't bother her as much as it had. She was getting used to it. Amanda observed them and rolled her eyes. "Just ignore them; the novelty will wear off soon enough, I promise."

"Here's hoping," she replied briefly before entering the classroom. The teacher was already there, sitting at his desk. He looked a lot more welcoming than the other teachers, more relaxed. He had blue eyes, short mousy hair that was slightly greyed around his ears and wore a welcoming smile.

"Good afternoon, ladies," The history teacher said good-naturedly. "You must be Ms. Thorne?"

Emily nodded. "I am." If she had a dollar for every time someone had said that to her that day…

"It's a pleasure to have you in the class. I'm Mr. Clarke," he introduced himself.

Amanda took Emily by the hand and led her down to two desks at the bottom of the classroom. Mr. Clarke shook his head. "You know the tradition Amanda, the first to come to class always get the privilege of sitting in the front row!" He stood and walked to where the desks began, patting two right in the centre.

The curly haired girl grimaced and begrudgingly got up, taking her books with her. Emily followed suit. "You know dad, I get to have you at home. Why not let the other students soak up all of your awesomeness? It's hardly fair. They'll think I'm getting special treatment," she commented sarcastically much to the teacher's amusement.

Emily arched an eyebrow. _Dad? _"Oh, you two are father and daughter?" she wondered, comparing them physically. Amanda definitely had his smile but other than that there was no immediate resemblance. From what she could tell so far, their temperament was similar.

Amanda nodded. "Unfortunately. You know, I didn't even want to take History. He bribed me," she accused and sat down in her chair, making no attempt to seem graceful.

Mr. Clarke laughed. "And aren't you happy now? History is the _coolest _subject ever!"

"Yeah, if learning about dead guys who lived two thousand years ago is considered cool," his daughter replied with a hint of playfulness in her tone. "It might have been back in the stone age when you were my age but this is 2013!"

He looked at Emily. "Amanda is just afraid to admit that she may actually enjoy anything to do with me. Isn't that right?"

The dough eyed teenager nodded. "Totally!" she said, her voice full of sarcasm.

Other students began filing in and Mr. Clarke greeted them all with a smile. It was evident that he really enjoyed teaching his students. He was completely engaging in his lessons as Emily soon found out. He even made the Wall Street Crash seem somewhat interesting.

After History, which Emily found intriguing and was the first class that day she had genuinely enjoyed, she and Amanda met Jack and Nolan in the English room. That class was definitely an experience. She had not been prepared for the eccentricities of the English teacher, Mr. Treadwell. He was very strange and unnerved her a slight bit. Mr. Treadwell had been more interested in her than any of the other teachers so far that day. When the bell had finally rung, Emily was definitely relieved.

Unfortunately, she had to venture to Humanities by herself as Nolan, Jack and Amanda all had gym. She had gotten used to having at least one of them around, so Emily felt a bit exposed on her own. When she got to room 16, the blond quickly picked a random desk in the middle of the class and sat down in one of the two seats. All the other students looked in her direction as they took their respective seats and Emily lowered her head slightly.

She didn't look up again until she heard someone speak. "Do you mind if I sit here?" Daniel asked timidly, "All the other seats are taken…"

Emily shook her head. "No, go ahead."

He sat and the two remained awkwardly silent for a few minutes. She had a feeling Daniel wanted to say something. He eventually did. "I'm sorry about leaving so quickly the other day. It's just Tyler…"

The blond shook her head. "Don't worry about it."

"No, it was rude. The truth is, I wasn't even there to see Tyler. He just assumed and you know he's finding all this a bit hard…"

Emily smiled softly. "Seriously Daniel, don't worry about it. I wasn't much company anyway," she said politely. Maybe Daniel was different to her adopted brother? Either way, he definitely wasn't what she had expected. He seemed actually genuine.

They didn't have any more time to talk as the teacher walked in. She was slightly below average height and wore a stern expression that intimidated Emily. She didn't even bother introducing herself to the new student, which Emily had to admit she was thankful for, so Daniel filled her in. "That's Ms. Crowley. Scary, isn't she?" The blond nodded briefly and paid particular attention as Ms. Crowley began her lesson.

Emily clenched her jaw as she listened to her teacher talking about the Protestants and Catholics in Northern Ireland. Everything she said made the sixteen year old angrier; it was completely one sided. It wasn't that she actually really cared about religion; it was the fact that she was willingly excluding important details to present one side in a favourable and righteous light.

"- the forces were perfectly right to use mass internment in that situation-"

She could hold her tongue no longer. "Bullshit," the blond said a little too loudly and everyone turned to look at her. Daniel stiffened beside her as Ms. Crowley looked at the new student in disbelief.

"_Excuse me?_" the teacher said indignantly.

Daniel looked at her with incredulity and discreetly shook his head. "Let it go, Emily," he warned her lowly.

Emily couldn't do that. "There would be no reason for mass internment if the Catholics weren't being discriminated against. None of the Civil Rights movements would have taken place and hundreds of people's lives would have been spared. Neither side was without fault," she told her straight out. There had been lots of time for reading books in juvie and Emily had become very knowledgeable about a variety of different subjects.

The boy at her side still stared at her as if she was mad but the blond didn't care. Teachers are supposed to give an objective view of the material they teach, especially when it was sensitive.

"Well, Ms. Thorne," Ms. Crowley said coldly, "If you feel so strongly about this I suggest you continue the conversation with the principal," she said pointing towards the door.

Emily picked up her books and stood, "Happily," she replied sarcastically and exited the room. Even though she had been sent to the principal's office on the first day, Emily didn't care. Ms. Crowley was a bitch.

She walked down the corridor until she reached the office in question but sighed when she saw the plaque on the door:

_Conrad Grayson,_

_Headmaster_

Emily put her books on the floor and sat down in one of the two chairs that were in the alcove next to the office. She fidgeted with the hem of her skirt as she waited, contemplating just knocking on the door. The blond smiled when she thought of the inevitable humorous comments Nolan would make. That alone was nearly worth it.

She was pulled from her reverie by the sound of footsteps getting nearer and nearer. Emily looked up and saw Mr. Mathis, the one she had had a collision with earlier that morning, standing there with both a smile and concern on his face. "I must say I'm impressed Ms. Thorne. Only," he looked at his watch, "five hours and you've already found yourself outside the principal's office." The sixteen year old said nothing in reply. He frowned. "Come with me."

Emily arched and eyebrow. "I was told to go to the principal's office…"

Mr. Mathis shrugged. "It's okay; I can talk to Mr. Grayson later." He gestured for her to follow him. Not needing another invitation, she grabbed her books and walked down the hall with the Guidance Counsellor.

When they reached his office, the Englishman opened the door and gestured for her to go in. It was a simple room with a desk and three chairs, a computer and lots of college brochures and pamphlets occupying a bookshelf. "Have a seat," he told her and sat on the other side of the desk. She did as she was told. "So, my name is Mr. Mathis and you probably already know that I am the Guidance Counsellor. You want to tell my why you were banished to the principal's office already? You set a new record," Mr. Mathis said with a hint of a smile.

"Ms Crowley was talking about the Protestants being right to use mass internment and I told her she was wrong," she informed him plainly and bitterly.

He frowned. "What exactly did you say?"

"I told her it was bullshit," Emily told him without any reservations.

Mr. Mathis chuckled briefly. "Probably wasn't the best way to inform her that you disagree…"

The blond shrugged. Like she cared. "It was her own fault for not giving all of the facts. You can't just paint one side as completely innocent." She knew all too well about that. There was nothing she hated more than people who abused their power.

The Guidance Counsellor paused for a moment. He wanted to approach this as delicately as possible. "This wouldn't have anything to do with what's happened in your life, would it? The Catholics and the Protestants? Maybe your anger is to do with the principle?" He paused again, this time for longer. "It wouldn't have anything to do with the fire?"

Emily glared at him. "So you read my file. That doesn't mean you know me," she informed him coldly. The sixteen year old had seen many a shrink in her life and they always thought they knew everything about her after reading a few words printed on a page.

"That's not what I-"

She stood. "You don't know anything about me," Emily informed him in a matter of fact tone.

He stood as well. "Emily-" Mr. Mathis began but it was too late. She had left. He sat back down in his chair and sighed. He shouldn't have said that. He should have known that she would get defensive. It was probably in her nature to do so. Emily intrigued him; there was no doubt about that. The Guidance Counsellor knew that he had to be sensitive with her but wasn't and that was a big mistake. She probably had to deal with people assuming things about her all her life and he tried hard not to do that. Somehow he managed to anyway. He feared that he had ruined any chances of her ever trusting him.

**Disclaimer: The use of the Northern Irish history is just for effect. These are not my views nor am I suggesting that what Emily says is true. I really hope I haven't offended anyone! I just wanted to use a situation that I'm very familiar with that is not so black and white to give you the readers a bit of an insight into how Emily's mind works.**

**P.S.: **_**Internment**_** is the act of putting someone in prison without trial. **


	5. Chapter 5

**Chapter 5**

After fleeing from Mr. Mathis' office, Emily headed straight from the bathroom, seething. How dare he bring that up? It was none of his business. The blond leaned up against the wall before sitting down. She didn't care that she was on the floor of the bathroom; Emily had been in worse places. She just needed time to think. There was no way she was going to the principal's office or even back to Ms. Crowley's class.

What happened with Mathis was something Emily was all too familiar with. She was seen as some pyromaniac when they didn't actually know the half of what happened. The police and her foster family just wanted to find someone to blame quickly so that the insurance company would pay up. She hated them all for it.

It hurt even more when her new guidance counsellor did the same because Emily had actually thought he was nice. But he was just like all the rest of them. So eager to get inside her mind that he was completely oblivious to what that actually meant.

Emily sat there until the bell rang signalling the end of class and, thankfully, the end of the first day. It felt like a week had passed since she left the house that morning. She rose from the cold floor and patted down her uniform before heading for the door. Emily was leaving just as Ashley and a group of girls entered.

"Hi Emily," Ashley said, eyeing her new acquaintance curiously.

"Hey," the blond replied briefly before leaving. She needed to get out of this place quick, in case Daniel, or even Mr. Mathis, saw her. Emily made her way down the corridor to her locker with great difficulty. Everyone else was walking against her, all eager to get out of the establishment as quick as possible.

She eventually reached her destination and grabbing her bag chucked a handful of books into it. On the way out of school, she ran into Tyler who was wearing a smug grin. "And so the fun begins. Principal's office on the first day of school? Mom is going to kill you," he commented tauntingly.

Emily just walked past not even bothering to react to the provocation. Tyler could play all the games he wanted but she was out.

"Emily! Wait!" a female voice called from behind her as she rounded the corner. Emily turned to say Amanda trying to catch up with her. She stopped. "Someone in your humanities class told me that you got into a fight with Ms. Crowley," Amanda informed her, concern evident in her voice.

Emily arched an eyebrow. A fight? That was a bit of an exaggeration. "I wouldn't exactly call it a fight…" she replied with a hint of a smile.

Amanda chuckled. "You know how stories go. By tomorrow the two of you will have been wrestling on front of the class!"

"It's good to see for what they lack in personality, they make up for with imagination."

"They said she sent you to Mr. Grayson's office."

The new student nodded. "That was the truth. But I didn't actually end up seeing him. Mr. Mathis came by and took me to his office instead," Emily frowned.

Amanda looked surprised. "Oh yeah? What did he say?"

Emily paused. "He said he was going to cover for me this time but that I should be more careful." That was partly the truth. She was pretty sure she left him feeling bad about what he had said. Mathis wouldn't say anything.

"See, I told you he's a nice guy." Yeah, totally.

After she got home, Emily went straight to her room and started flipping through her history text book. It had been without a doubt her favourite class of the day. She stopped on the Cuban Missile Crisis and started reading about that. Emily loved reading. It was something she used to pass the time at Alanwood. The whole experience would have been completely unbearable if it wasn't for books. They were her saviour.

The blond had read eight pages when there was a knock on the door. Emily rolled her eyes. _Here it comes_. Tyler had obviously been more than happy to inform his concerned mother about his sister's indiscretions. "Come in," she called half-heartedly.

Sure enough, Lydia peered her head around the door before opening it fully and making her way over to her adopted daughter's bed. She frowned. "Tyler told me about what happened today. What happened?"

Emily shut the book. "Ms. Crowley said something I didn't agree with, I told her. That's it."

Lydia arched an eyebrow, though she did seem a slight bit amused. "I believe the term used was 'bullshit'?" Okay, so they had gotten that one right.

"I felt very strongly about it…" Emily offered with a little smile herself.

Her adoptive mother shook her head in slight disbelief. "I know Ms. Crowley is a bit controversial at times, but from now on you should try to bite your tongue. You don't want her as an enemy."

"I'll try." That didn't mean she would succeed.

Lydia smiled. "Good. I can talk to Mr. Grayson and try to get your detention revoked."

Emily frowned. "I didn't get detention."

"You didn't?"

"Nope. I didn't even speak to Mr. Grayson."

The older woman sighed. "Emily, if a teacher tells you-"

"I went to his office and waited there but Mr. Mathis, the guidance counsellor, came along and said that he would talk to me instead."

"And what did he say?"

Emily thought about what she had told Amanda earlier. "He basically said the same thing s as you; that I had better be a bit more diplomatic when voicing my opinion."

Lydia seemed to approve. "That's good. Just try to keep your nose clean," she advised. "Apart from that, how was your first day at school?"

She couldn't deny that up until then things had been going well. "Great."

"Did you make any friends?"

"Yeah. These kids called Nolan, Amanda and Jack. They were all really nice," she informed her.

Lydia smiled. "They're good kids. I'm glad you're friends with them. You can have them over anytime you want. I'll leave you to your," she looked at the cover of the book, "history. That was my favourite class. Dinner will be ready in an hour."

After reading, Emily decided to go down to the sitting room to watch some TV. She felt a bit smug not that Tyler's plan had backfired. She was even as bold as to sit down next to him on the couch, much to his dismay.

"Aren't you grounded?" he wondered venomously.

Emily shook her blond head. "Nope. Didn't even get detention."

"What? You're lying…"

"No, I'm not. Ask mom." She used the 'm' word just to annoy him.

Tyler huffed. "I should have known this was going to happen. No-one wants to upset poor, vulnerable Emily." That was the first time he had actually called her by her name instead of _she_.

She shrugged. "Better look next time."

"Don't think I haven't got you figured out," he warned, rising from the couch. "Mom! I'm going to Daniel's for dinner!" he called before practically storming out and slamming the front door behind him.

Emily changed the channel with a sense of victory. She wasn't just going to let her adoptive brother walk all over her.

"Ems! Kudos on telling Ms. C where to shove it," Nolan congratulated her the next morning.

Emily frowned. "Does everyone in the school know?"

He nodded and grinned cheekily. "Everyone outside it too. You've officially earned respect. But don't go abandoning us lowly plebs now," he joked.

"Not going to happen. You couldn't pay me to be friends with all these snobs." She chuckled. "You should have seen the look on Tyler's face when he found out that I didn't get detention or a grounding."

Nolan walked her to history class because Amanda was running late. "He's not going to stop you know."

The brown eyed girl nodded. "I know but I'm able to take him. I'm not worrying about my 'brother'. See you later."

"Morning Emily," Mr. Clarke smiled when she entered his classroom. "It's good to see that at least someone in this school can arrive on time. It's more than can be said for my daughter anyway. Have you by any chance seen her?"

"No, I haven't. She's probably with Jack."

Mr. Clarke rolled his eyes. "Most likely."

The rest of the class filed in and the teacher began his lesson. About five minutes later, Amanda burst in the door, her hair dishevelled and her lips slightly swollen. "Sorry I'm late," she said and quickly made for the desk next to Emily.

"Not so fast Amanda…" Mr. Clarke said and his daughter rolled her eyes and backed up. He handed her a late slip. "One more and it's detention. Keep that in mind the next time you're with Jack." Amanda nodded and sat down at her desk. "By the way, you have something in your hair…"

Amanda ran her hand through her hair and picked something out; it was a twig. She discarded it with a blush.

Emily couldn't help but smile. Mr. Clarke was the coolest teacher ever. She couldn't help but envy the relationship Amanda had with her father. She wondered if she would have had that with hers if he hadn't been put in jail when she was six. That seemed to be the theme of Emily's life; one 'what if' after another.

Emily made it to lunch without anymore run ins with teachers and she had no Humanities class that they so the odds were in her favour. She got to the canteen before her friends so she got her food and grabbed a table. As she was waiting Daniel approached her.

"So my dad didn't mention anything about what happened yesterday. Tyler did but… how did it go?" he asked her.

Emily smiled softly. "Fine. I didn't actually meet him. Mr. Mathis just gave me a warning."

"Oh. That's good. I have to say, I admire your courage. Not many would even dream of taking on Ms. Crowley," Daniel said with a wry smile.

She chuckled. "Well I guess she's met her match," the blond joked.

"Hey Emily," Amanda said slowly as she sat down at the table.

Daniel suddenly looked uncomfortable. "I guess I'll talk to you later," he said briefly before walking away.

Amanda frowned. "What did he want?"

"We sit next to each other in Humanities. Daniel just wanted to see how I got on after I was banished from the classroom."

The other girl eyes her suspiciously for a moment before shrugging and tucking into her pizza. They were soon joined by Nolan and Jack, the former lecturing about the coolness of competitive Tetris.

Emily was getting her books ready for her classes after lunch when a voice sounded from behind her. "Ms. Thorne." Emily's face hardened and she turned to face Mr. Mathis. He frowned when he saw her deathly glare. "I wanted to ask you if you would come to see me when the last class starts. It's up to you but I feel there's something we need to discuss…" Mathis looked sincere.

She contemplated it with a frown. Emily didn't want to go if he was going to tell her how much he 'knew' about her. A part of her wanted to hear him out though.

He obviously mistook her pensive silence for the cold shoulder. "Think about it," Mr. Mathis said before walking away again.

The blond watched as her teacher walked down the corridor. She hadn't quite figured him out yet like she had with all her other teachers. There was something about Mr. Mathis that she couldn't quite put her finger on that made him unlike the rest. Emily closed her locker and sighed. She wanted to stay away from an inevitable interrogation but she was intrigued. It was seldom that anyone ever got a second chance with her. Maybe that was something she needed to work on now that she had a secure family?

The bell rang and she made her way to her math class. Emily at least had two more classes to contemplate the invitation.


	6. Chapter 6

**Chapter 6**

**So sorry for the long wait! You can thank **_**It's All About Them **_**for giving me the kick I needed to actually update again. But now I have the next few chapters written so there will be some more regular updates. Thank you all for your patience. I love the next two chapters so I'm looking forward to updating again. Enjoy!**

Aiden Mathis was behind his desk in his office hoping that Emily Thorne would show up. He knew the likelihood of her doing so was slight after their run in yesterday but he still hoped. The guidance counsellor sat keeping an eye on the clock as the seconds and minutes ticked along. The last class had started fifteen minutes ago and there was still no sign of her. Aiden was sure she wasn't coming.

Sighing, he switched on his computer and watched the screen came to life. He typed in his password without much effort and waited for it to load, drumming his fingers on the mahogany desk in the process. Just as Aiden was about to sign into his email account, there was a knock on the door. It was faint but it was there nonetheless.

It startled the teacher, he had to admit. "Come in," he called, hoping it was the school's newest student. He wasn't disappointed. If anything he was surprised.

Emily timidly walked through the door and Aiden could have sworn that she looked a small bit embarrassed. Her wavy golden hair was tucked behind her ears and she wrung her hands as she approached him at his desk. "Sorry I'm late… I just wasn't-"

"Sure you were going to come?" he assumed.

She shrugged. "I guess."

Aiden studied her with curiosity for a moment. "Well you're here now, so why don't you have a seat," he gestured to the chair in front of him that she had been sitting in not twenty four hours previous. The blond gracefully sat, smoothing her skirt down. She then crossed her legs but soon changed her mind and crossed her ankles instead as if she had been taught. He soon realised that he was waiting for her to speak which wasn't going to happen. "I asked you to come here," Aiden began, turning off the monitor of the computer, "because I wanted to apologise about yesterday. I honestly didn't intend for you to interpret what I said the way you did."

That took Emily by surprise. If anything she had thought he had requested her presence to berate her for running away yesterday. "Oh…" she frowned. No-one had ever apologised for making assumptions about her. Apologies weren't something she was used to at all.

"Yes. I want to be someone you can trust, Emily. I have to be. I would love if you could forget my idiotic question from yesterday," the guidance counsellor told her sincerely.

The blond paused for a moment, contemplating it all. Mr. Mathis actually did seem like a nice guy and he obviously truly felt bad about the occurrences of the previous day. There was something about him that made her _want _to trust him. "I guess I could."

Aiden smiled in relief. For some reason her agreement put him at ease. "Thank you."

"Is that all you wanted to talk to me about?" Emily wondered, unsure as to whether or not she wanted to stay.

He frowned for a brief moment. "While you're here, you don't by any chance want to have a chat about what we didn't discuss yesterday afternoon? I got it wrong; why don't you tell me what no-one else takes the time to ask?"

She hadn't been expecting that. "I'm sorry; I don't think I'm ready to talk about it yet…"

Aiden accepted that. "That's fine. If ever you do feel like talking about it, I'll be here. Contrary to what I may have insinuated yesterday, I'm on your side. Nothing you tell me will leave this room."

Emily smiled softly. There was something about Mr. Mathis' voice that was comforting. It was no wonder he was a counsellor. "I appreciate that."

He returned her smile and then some. "Why don't you tell me how you're getting on? At home and at school. From what I have seen you seem to be doing great."

"Things have been good. I've been getting on well with my teachers and the other students, despite what happened with Ms. Crowley yesterday," she said with a wry smile. "Home is… okay, good… different."

"I understand that it is a complete change and it will take time to get used to. What about Tyler?"

The young girl chuckled briefly. "I've had foster siblings that haven't wanted me there before, Tyler is just another one. I'm used to it by now."

Aiden frowned. "If you want I can have a word?"

"No, it's okay. I can handle it myself."

He wasn't so sure. "Are you sure? Tyler's a good kid; sometimes he just needs a push in the right direction."

Emily smiled. "Is that something you do often? Push people in the right direction?"

The Englishman chuckled. "Quite often. That's basically what my job's about in a nutshell." She was obviously incredibly witty too. The newest student definitely hadn't been what he had been expecting. It was a reminder that preconceptions are useless.

"Well you seem to be good at it from what I have seen so far."

"Thank you very much."

Emily paused, getting serious again. "You know, this place is so much better than I had expected." It was actually quite unbelievable, the difference.

Aiden smiled softly. "And what were you expecting?"

She paused again, chewing self-consciously on her lower lip. "I was expecting to just be… here. I didn't expect to make friends, especially this quickly, and I definitely didn't expect the teachers to be so nice and obliging."

"Can I tell you something?"

That interested her. "Yes."

"I felt the exact same when I first came here a couple of years ago. This school had a bit of a… let's say, reputation. Before I even walked in the door, I had convinced myself that I was way out of my dept. I know it's a serious cliché but never judge a book by its cover. I've learned that." Obviously not well enough. Emily was a testament to that.

The blond definitely felt relieved. It was so comforting to hear that she wasn't the only one. "It's not just me?"

Aiden shook his head. "It's not just you. Trust me, I've seen plenty of new students come and have the same fears, only to be proven wrong pretty quickly. It's as if they've been in their classes from day one now."

"That's good to hear." She wasn't sure that she would ever be best friends with all the students in her classes but for them to at least treat her with indifference would be welcome.

The guidance counsellor smiled again and Emily was pretty sure that he had one of the nicest smiles she had ever seen. "There's no need to worry. None whatsoever."

She just observed him in silence for a moment. Mr. Mathis was someone she'd definitely been wrong about. He was definitely a sincere and truly nice guy. Emily could definitely see why the other students really liked him… especially those of the female persuasion.

The bell suddenly sounded, pulling her immediately from her daze. She stood. "I should probably get going… if that's okay? I promised I'd meet Amanda and Nolan…"

Aiden smiled. "No, that's fine. Go ahead. I'm perfectly happy that you're doing great. But if you ever need to talk…"

Emily nodded. "You're here. Thanks Mr. Mathis," she said as she headed for the door.

"No problem, Ms. Thorne."

She blushed. "You can call me Emily."

Aiden blinked, surprised. "Okay. See you tomorrow, Emily."

She gave him one last smile before closing the door behind her. Emily hurried to her locker to collect her bag before she met up with her friends outside.

"Where were you?" Amanda immediately asked, confused as to why she wasn't in the last class.

Emily shrugged. "Mr. Mathis wanted to talk to me."

Amanda grinned. "Wow, twice in two days. You're a lucky girl," she joked. "Come on, Nolan and Jack are already down at the beach." The two started walking in that direction.

"Where were you?" Amanda immediately asked, confused as to why she wasn't in the last class.

Emily shrugged. "Mr. Mathis wanted to talk to me."

Amanda grinned. "Wow, twice in two days. You're a lucky girl," she joked. "Come on, Nolan and Jack are already down at the beach." The two started walking in that direction.

The new student arched an eyebrow. "We're going to the beach?"

"Yeah, just for a small while. Don't worry; you'll have plenty of time to do your homework."

When they arrived, Nolan was uninterestedly kicking a football to Jack. He smiled when he saw his other friends coming. "Look who it is, Emanda. We thought you'd never get here," he joked.

"Blame Emily, I was waiting for here but she was talking to Mr. Mathis. Anyway, we're here now. Jack, toss me the ball," her boyfriend did as she instructed and Nolan happily let her take his place.

Instead, he sat down in the sand next to Emily. "Is everything okay Ems?"

She nodded and smiled. "Yeah, everything is fine. Great, actually."

He frowned. "You're sure."

"Positive. How did you and Jack get here so quickly?"

"Study period. We decided to study the Long Shore Drift instead."

Emily laughed. "Makes sense."

Nolan shrugged. "I would have been studying Geography anyway. Why look at a book when I can see it in person."

"Why indeed?" Emily loved Nolan. He always put a smile on her face. She was so glad that she had sat next to him in that first class.

Nolan looked over her shoulder. "Oh look, it's your biggest fan," he said sarcastically as only he could.

She followed his gaze to where Tyler, Daniel and some of their friends were playing football again. Ashley and her group of friends were sitting down just out of their way watching them and giggling like a bunch of 13 year olds. Emily shrugged. "How long do you think it will be until he realises that he's not going to win?"

The blond haired boy contemplated that for a moment. "Knowing Tyler? Never."

"Hmm, I don't know. I have a feeling he's a lot smarter than he lets on."

Nolan scoffed. "Sorry Ems, I can't see it."

Both turned back to observe their friends as Amanda tried to wrestle the ball from Jack and eventually succeeded. She really was a force to be reckoned with. Mid-conversation about nothing in particular, a ball landed at Emily's feet. She picked it up and examined it, wondering where it had come from.

Daniel jogged over to them. He blushed. "Sorry about that, Emily. That was a bit of an off kick to say the least."

Emily chuckled. "Don't worry about it. Here," she handed the oval shaped ball back to him.

"Hey Nolan," the Grayson eventually greeted him.

He smiled falsely. "Danny Boy."

Daniel looked back at Emily and seemed like he was going to say something but changed his mind. "See you later," he eventually said and jogged back towards his group where Tyler was impatiently calling him.

"Wow, he's a better kicker than I gave him credit for…" Nolan said suspiciously, "Aimed to perfection."

Emily frowned. "He said it was an accident."

Her new friend scoffed. "Yeah right."

She wanted to ask what he had meant but didn't get a chance. "Emily! Nolan! Come on. Two on two, boys versus girls," Amanda called at them.

Emily shook her head. "I don't know how to play."

Amanda grabbed her by the hand and pulled her up. "So? It's pretty easy. Come on. We're so going to win!"

There was nothing she could do but roll her eyes and smile. Emily wasn't going to win this one.


	7. Chapter 7

**Finally! I get to put this chapter up **** I've had it written for ages but didn't really get the chance to type it up and post it. My apologies. This is probably my favourite chapter so far because we're finally moving along… I really hope you like this one. Let me know what you think!**

**Chapter 7**

Emily flipped through her History textbook in search of a quote she remembered seeing for her essay. She had a free period and decided to get as much done as possible so that there wouldn't be a mountain of work to do when she got home.

"I wanted to take history but my parents felt that Economics would be more advantageous for me." Daniel's voice came out of no-one and startled her. She looked up to see him standing awkwardly next to her table. "Do you mind if I sit here?" he gestured towards the free chair opposite her.

The blond shook her head. "No, go ahead."

"Tyler's been in the worst mood ever these past few days… You must be doing something right," Daniel said with a wry smile.

Emily chuckled softly. "I try," she joked. "There doesn't have to be a problem, you know. Everyone's lives would be a lot more pleasant but if Tyler wants to play, then I'll play." She had learned enough from juvie not to let people walk all over her.

He frowned, an expression which she had to admit had no place on the face of Daniel Grayson. There was nearly always a smile in its place. It was part of his charm. "You know I'm trying to persuade him not to be so provocative. He needs to give you a break."

She shrugged. "It doesn't bother me. It did at the start but not anymore. There's no need to worry about me, Daniel. It's nothing I haven't dealt with before."

"I'm still going to look out for you," he insisted.

The blond frowned. "I'm not trying to sound ungrateful or anything, but why do you care?" Could it have anything to do with the comment Nolan had made at the beach less than a week ago?

The question seemed to throw him. Daniel paused for a moment. "Because we're friends, aren't we?"

She had to admit that she hadn't thought about it like that. Emily saw Daniel as Tyler's best friend and as such didn't see him as a friend of her own but that's probably what they were. He was perfectly nice; there was no reason not to be. "Yes."

The dark haired boy smiled. "That's why. Friends look after friends."

"Well I hope I can return the favour sometime," she told him.

Again Daniel hesitated. "Emily?"

"Yes?"

"You know if you ever need to talk to someone that I'm here, right?" he asked almost bashfully. The sincerity was evident in his voice.

She chuckled internally. It seemed like everyone wanted her to talk to them. They must have thought she was really messed up… Well, that probably wasn't very far from the truth. Emily smiled and observed her classmate. He definitely wasn't like the others but yet he seemed to fit in perfectly. It certainly intrigued her. She still hadn't figured him out yet. "I'll keep that in mind."

He smiled sheepishly in return. "I should probably let you get back to your History," Daniel said, rising again. "Remember what I said."

Emily nodded. "I will. Thanks Daniel." He just gave a brief nod of his head before making his way back over to his table. She immediately started writing again. Emily had just finished the second page when she glanced up and saw that Mr. Mathis was replacing Mr. Murphy as supervisor. She couldn't help but watch.

The guidance counsellor sat down at the desk by the door and picked up the newspaper he had brought with him. Emily expected a guy like him to read the current affairs or political section but no, he removed the sports section and tossed the rest back down onto the desk. That made her smile. She knew that her essay seriously needed doing but the blond couldn't tear her eyes away for some strange reason.

Mr. Mathis held a peculiar interest for her. It made her chuckle when his expression quickly changed from one of delight to disgust and back again as he read.

After a few minutes the teacher raised his yes and caught Emily's gaze before she could look away. A not so subtle blush crept across her cheeks. He smiled at her and she briefly smiled back before hastily returning her attention to the essay in front of her. Her cheeks burned. He had caught her staring at him! She began writing anything and everything to try to occupy her mind.

There came a point where her curiosity got the better of her and she had to cast a glace again. She peered up discreetly from beneath her eyelashes. It definitely surprised her to find that he was still watching her. A small frown had taken the place of his warm smile.

Mr Mathis must have seen her looking despite her best efforts because his focus quickly returned to the paper, though the frown remained. It definitely left Emily confused. Why had he been watching her? Then again, she couldn't hope to know why he was observing her when she didn't even know why she had been watching him. He was making her act peculiar and Emily had absolutely no inclination as to why. She could handle anyone, but it was as if all bets were off when it came to her guidance counsellor. Her cheeks were still burning with embarrassment.

Mercifully, the bell sounded and Emily quickly gathered her stuff. She quickly left the library, not stopping to cast him another glance. She needed to get out of there. The blond was embarrassed enough as it was.

Emily hastily walked down the corridor, an abundance of thoughts invading her mind. It felt as if her brain would just explode. She continued on until the sound of a female voice calling her name loudly caused her to stop. She turned around to see Amanda who wore a confused expression. "Don't we have maths now?"

Emily frowned, still a bit flustered. "What? Oh. Yeah I guess."

Amanda frowned at her best friend's flustered state. "Are you okay, Emily?" She was definitely concerned.

She nodded with as much conviction as she could manage. "Yeah, I'm fine," Emily tried to convince her.

It was easy to see that her friend didn't believe her. Not that she could be blamed. Amanda arched an eyebrow inquisitively. "Really? Because the math class is in the other direction…"

That it was. She hadn't even noticed. "Oh, yeah I know. I just left my calculator in my locker. I'm just going to run and get it," Emily replied gesturing haphazardly in the general direction.

Amanda was obviously reluctant to believe her but didn't say any more. "Do you want me to go with you?"

"Not it's okay," the newly adopted teen shook her head vehemently, "You go ahead but save me a seat," she smiled as best she could before continuing on. She really hoped that the other girl had gone to class because her calculator was in her pencil case.

It was unknown to her why she even felt like she had to lie in the first place. Emily could have just as easily told her friend that she had forgotten which class they were in instead of making up some stupid excuse. Her brain was all messed up after that non-verbal exchange with Mr. Mathis in the library. She had no idea why he had such an effect on her. He was just another member of the school faculty… except he wasn't.

There was something different about him. Yes, he was obviously attractive but there was more…

Emily sighed when she reached her locker. For show she had to actually open it and root about before grabbing her geometry set and heading back in the direction of her class. She promised herself that she wouldn't think about Mr. Mathis for the rest of the day but it was easier said than done.

"You've been acting weird today," Amanda commented as they made their way outside after school to meet up with Jack and Nolan. It was evident that her friend had been thinking about it for a while.

Emily frowned. "Yeah, I'm just having a bit of an off day…" _Just tell her! _Her mind urged but she wouldn't abide.

Amanda nodded. "That's cool. Everyone is allowed to have a bad day. I'm just worried about you," the teacher's daughter admitted.

The new student felt an odd pang at her words. It felt really good to have friends that cared about her. It was a welcome change. Emily felt that she could really trust the other blond. _Then why don't you trust her with this whole Mathis thing? _Her stupid mind again. She smiled. "You don't have to worry," Emily promised, "I'm just in a weird mood-" Her words were cut off as a result of her bumping right into someone.

"Oh, I'm so sorry-" She looked up and immediately thought that fate was a cruel thing, Her eyes met with Mr. Mathis'. They had bumped into each other. _Again_. Words suddenly failed her and the blond could tell that he was a little bit shocked too.

Mr. Mathis frowned. "No, it was my fault this time. Sorry," the guidance counsellor apologised lowly while stepping away quickly. He walked away just as fast. Emily wondered what was wrong with him. He didn't seem himself. The last time they had collided he had made a joke now it felt like he wanted to get away as soon as possible.

"Emily?" Amanda called her but her new best friend didn't hear. It wasn't until she poked the new student quite hard in the ribs that she evoked some kind of reaction.

"Ouch!" The sharp pain pulled her from her trance. Her hand immediately rubbed her side, trying to soothe the discomfort.

The other blond chuckled. "I had to get your attention somehow! You really are in a weird mood today. And by the way, you two need to stop doing that," she said plainly.

Emily froze but she didn't exactly know why. "Doing what?" she frowned.

"You and Mathis bumping into each other! It happened on your first day too, didn't it?" Amanda replied casually.

She nodded. "Yeah, it did."

Amanda pursed her lips. "I wonder what's wrong with him?

So it wasn't just her that had noticed. Emily shrugged. "I don't know." An idea suddenly came in to her head, seemingly out of nowhere. "Damn it! I forgot that I have to collect an essay for Sociology. What is wrong with me today?" she asked rhetorically, feigning frustration. "You guys go ahead without me. I'll phone you later."

"Is that the one that Nolan forgot about and had to stay up all night doing?"

Sure. Why not? "Yep, that's the one. I'll probably have to do it again. Who knows how long it's going to take me…"

"That sucks," the other girl empathised. "Even my dad does that to me. You'd think being your teacher's daughter would be reason enough for him to go a bit easier on me, you know because he's supposed to love me and everything? But apparently it doesn't work like that. Good luck with the essay. Talk to you later," Amanda gave her a hug before walking towards the door.

Emily went in the opposite direction. It wasn't the sociology class she was heading for, however. Instead, she found herself standing in front of the door of Mr. Mathis' office. Her hand was poised to knock but she started to second guess herself.

Eventually, Emily decided to just do it and rapped three times on the mahogany door. This time he opened the door himself, a look of shock mixed with something else she couldn't put her finger on appearing on his face when he saw who it was. "Emily?"


	8. Chapter 8

**Thanks so much for all the response to the last chapter **** I love you guys so much! You make writing this story so rewarding. This chapter is coming both a little ahead and behind of schedule. It would have been up sooner but I was packing because I'm moving house soon. On the upside, my laptop and I have decided to give or relationship another go which means I can write faster than I would on a desktop (which is packed). Let's see how long we last... **

**Anyway, enough with all that. I hope you like this chapter. I'm not really sure about it. I contemplating not putting this one in altogether but ultimately decided to go with my instinct. It's a little different but enjoy! **

**Chapter 8**

Aiden sat reading the sports section of the newspaper as he supervised the current study period in the library. He had been busy all day so the chance to finally check the weekend's football scores was very welcome. As always he was dismayed by the miniscule section at the very back dedicated to European football. The guidance counsellor glanced up from the broadsheet to make sure everyone was behaving themselves and that's when he saw her.

Emily Thorne's dark brown eyes were fixated on him.

When their eyes met, he smiled at her. It was a natural reaction that he couldn't help. The blond immediately blushed and averted her gaze, returning to whatever she had been working on in earnest. Emily may have been able to tear her eyes away but Aiden couldn't do the same. His curiosity had gotten the better of him.

The student had obviously been staring at him, but why? The Englishman wanted to stop looking at her, because he most definitely shouldn't be, but couldn't. He watched as her hand moved in fluid and delicate strokes across the page. Emily Thorne was certainly an enigma. From his experience, someone with a past like hers usually wasn't so refined or graceful. She seemed to really fit into this type of society. Aiden couldn't help but wonder if it was all an act. Was that the real Emily or the result of expectation? He had yet to figure it out.

The guidance counsellor continued to absentmindedly watch until he saw those eyes again. Emily looked up at him from beneath her feathery lashes, the action guarded and almost sheepish. Aiden's heart thudded momentarily and he quickly refocused his attention on the paper in front of him that had suddenly become very interesting.

He was a member of the school staff; he most certainly should not have been staring at one of the students. What the hell was the matter with him? If anyone saw and got the wrong impression- if Emily got the wrong impression- he could be in a lot of trouble.

Aiden was afraid to look up again. The last few minutes of the period passed and the bell rang. He then afforded himself a glance and saw that the student in question was already on her way out the door. _Fantastic_; she was probably freaked out. Not that he could blame her. Aiden mentally chastised himself. That couldn't happen again. The girl was sixteen! Since when was he _that guy_? Since when was he even _thinking _of being _that guy_?

Aiden managed to push Emily Thorne to a far corner of his mind for the duration of the last class, which proved to be a lot harder than he had thought. He just needed to go home and sort his head out. Then everything would be fine again.

As soon as the final bell of the day sounded, the guidance counsellor left the library and headed directly to his office. He hadn't counted on bumping into someone along the way.

"Oh, I'm so sorry-" That voice made him flinch. Of all the people in the school, what were the chances that she would be the one he ran into? _Again_. It was the second time in as many weeks.

Aiden quickly took a step back from the young girl, just as Emily looked up at him again. "No, it was my fault this time. Sorry," he apologised hastily before walking away as quick as he could. She was going to start thinking that he was stalking her. He made a mental note to watch where he was going very carefully from then on.

As soon as the counsellor reached his destination, he walked inside his office and shut the door behind him before interlocking his fingers at the back of his neck. This was absolutely crazy. Why was he freaking out so much? It's not like he actually had any reason to freak out. It was just a series of coincidental events that meant nothing. At least that's what he tried very hard to convince himself of.

No; it was the truth.

It could have easily been any other student...

But it wasn't. It was Emily.

Emily with her eyes the colour of rich chocolate... Aiden immediately stopped that thought in its tracks. This was a very fine line he was treading on. One wrong move and it could very well ruin him. She was just a child. This was so wrong.

He spent another few minutes trying to forget her again before he was interrupted by a knock on the door. Aiden sighed and opened it but nothing could have prepared him for what he found when he did.

There she was looking all timid and sheepish and so not Emily.

"Emily," he tried to steady his voice, "what can I do for you?"

The blond frowned. "Can I come in?"

Her voice sounded so delicate that the guidance counsellor couldn't say no even though he probably should have. He was afraid that she was going to confront him about what had happened earlier on. "Of course."

Emily walked into the room and closed the door behind her. He had been planning on leaving it open. Neither sat. They both stood there awkwardly and Aiden prayed that this would be over quickly. "What's wrong?" he asked.

She hesitated. "I know it's probably not my place but... you seemed kinda off when we bumped into each other a few minutes ago... I just wanted to see if you were okay," Emily admitted timidly.

The guidance counsellor frowned. That was not at all what he had been expecting. She just wanted to see how he was? Why? "Thank you for your concern, Miss Thorne, but I'm fine," he replied with a soft smile.

Emily nodded. "It just crossed my mind that you're always looking out for your students... there's no-one to look out for you."

Aiden just stood there in complete and utter shock. After a prolonged moment he managed to compose himself. "That's my job. You don't have to worry about me." He may have been a little closer to figuring her out but what he couldn't figure were her intentions.

The blond accepted that. "Okay. I just thought I'd ask," she said quietly as she made her way to the door.

"Miss Thorne?"

She quickly turned. "Yes?"

"Thank you. Really," Aiden replied sincerely.

Emily smiled bashfully. "It's no problem. See you tomorrow," she said briefly before slipping out the door, gone just as quick as she'd come.

He was left to stare in her wake. The counsellor was worried she would call him out on the occurrences in the library, that she'd say he was being totally inappropriate...

But she didn't.

Now all the ambivalent feelings were one hundred times worse. He wished that they would just go away altogether. He didn't want them, but yet he couldn't keep them down.

Emily had come to see if he was okay. She'd noticed that he was acting strange and was concerned. But why? What difference could it possibly make to her? Aiden contemplated it for a moment before he remembered something important:

Emily Thorne wasn't your average sixteen year old girl. She'd been through things that most teenagers, especially the ones at this school, couldn't even imagine. She knew what it was like to be down. It was only natural that she was mindful of other people...

But no matter how he tried, Aiden couldn't get the fact that she was worried about him out of his head. It was a dangerous line of thought he was following, one that would completely ruin him and his sanity if he kept it up.

So he decided he wasn't going to acknowledge the obvious in the hope that it would just go away. If he didn't address those thoughts, he could remain ignorant. And you know what they say about ignorance being bliss and all that...

Ultimately, the Englishman decided that the best thing to do now was get out of there. He would go home and distract himself by whatever means necessary. He needed to get _her_ out of his head. It had been a weird day, that's all. Those thoughts would be gone in an hour or so and he could look himself in the mirror again, right?

Wrong.

He'd tried everything; reading, watching tv, listening to music at an unhealthy volume... nothing worked.

Except running, which he had used as a last resort. Aiden was quite fit, but he wasn't a runner. So while his mind was cleared while he pounded the pavement ( somewhere out of the way with little to no chance of running into the blond again), there was only so far he could run before he was sure that if he ran another foot, he would die on the spot.

There was a big problem with that; the Englishman had covered a considerable distance and that was all well and good but he hadn't accounted for the trip back. So there Aiden was, with nothing physically left to give, alone with just his thoughts on the long walk home. His head was filled with Emily once again and nothing could save him from his thoughts this time.

Which is how he found himself staring at the clock on his bedside table like it had personally wronged him. It was nearly three o'clock in the morning and he hadn't slept at all. Not that he couldn't, because god knows going for a five mile run helps with that, but he wouldn't.

Aiden was full sure that he was going insane because every time he closed his eyes all he saw was her. The only way to stop that from happening was to keep his eyes open and concentrate solely on the fact that it was becoming a nearly impossible task. Why the hell couldn't he just be left alone? He didn't want to think about her, so why was his brain torturing him and then laughing about it?

Yep, he was definitely going mad. Or maybe that was the sleep deprivation? He couldn't tell.

It was quite the clusterfuck. The guidance counsellor was trying to rid himself of all those Emily thoughts so that he could sleep at night, yet there he was purposely staying awake to keep all those intrusive images out of his head. The irony was not lost on him.

But Aiden wasn't one to give up, so naturally he stayed awake all night, actually breathing a sigh of relief when his alarm clock sounded for once. Sure, he was completely exhausted but he hadn't had another thought about _her_. That could have been because his mind couldn't focus on anything but the fact that he felt like he could sleep until next Sunday... but whatever works.

So he got dressed like someone who had just taken six sleeping pills along with three glasses of whiskey before eating breakfast and pouring as much coffee down his throat as he could physically stomach.

Now all he had to do was go to work, try not to fall asleep, listen to people's problems and dish out advice all while avoiding a certain blond for the rest of the day.

Simple...


	9. Chapter 9

Thanks for all the reviews and alerts so far :) It's much appreciated. I really enjoyed writing this chapter because it is a little different. I would now like to take the oppurtunity to remind you that this is an Aimily story, so don't go freaking out (If you're now freaking out because I told you not to freak out, dont't worry; it's not that bad! I promise :p) Enjoy!

Chapter 9

"Good, you're home," Lydia smiled the minute Emily stepped foot inside the front door. "I was just about to call you. The Graysons have invited us over for dinner tonight so you should try to get your homework done before we go."

The young girl nodded although she wasn't particularly keen on the idea. She doubted dinner with the school's principal was considered a good night in anyone's book. "Okay, I'll get to it. What time is dinner?"

"Seven," Lydia beamed, happy that her new daughter was content to go, "Now you get a chance to utilise your new wardrobe. Pick out something pretty."

Emily played along only for her adopted mother's sake. She knew that the divorcée was happy to finally have a daughter. "Sure," she replied with a gentle smile before making her way upstairs. The blond pondered possible ways to get out of the dinner along the way. She ultimately decided that it would be very easy; all she would have to do is pretend that she wasn't feeling well... but she wouldn't.

Emily didn't want to disappoint Lydia and if that meant dining with the Graysons then she would do it. It couldn't be that bad. Besides, Daniel was actually nice. She could definitely do one dinner.

As she emptied her bag of its contents, she thought back on her conversation with Mr. Mathis at the end of the day. Emily really hoped she hadn't made a fool of herself; she had genuinely been concerned and he had seemed genuinely grateful... or so she hoped at least.

At first the blond had thought that it was because of what happened in the library but then she decided that she was just flattering herself. He was a teacher and she was just his student. There was no way she would have that much of an impact on him.

What the blond really needed to do was push Mr. Mathis to a far corner of her mind so that she could actually complete the history essay that she'd made several attempts at doing. Emily was motivated by the fact that she only had a page left to write and then she would be rid of it, in time to hand it up to Mr. Clarke in second period.

All her homework was done by 6:15, leaving her just enough time to get ready for dinner. It took Emily a few minutes to work up the nerve to enter the Narnia that was her closet. It was bigger than her room at Alanwood. Its walls were lined with racks of clothes, shoes and accessories. What kind of teenage girl needed all of that? It certainly wasn't anything she was used to.

She started scanning through the first rack and decided that it would take too long to go through them all, so Emily selected the first thing she liked: a casual peach dress with a jewell encrusted neckline. She grabbed a pair of beige flats to go with it and got out of there as quick as possible. Being in that closet was stressful. It would take a while to get used to but for now she just shut the door and pretended it didn't exist. She shed her uniform and replaced it with her choice of attire for the night. Emily looked in the mirror as a formality and was surprised to find that the dress really suited her, complimenting both her figure and skintone. Maybe the wardrobe wasn't something to be afraid of?

Lydia was already waiting downstairs sporting a form fitting navy dress that fell just above the knee. Emily was in awe of her towering nude heels. She couldn't imagine herself ever being able to walk in those. Her adopted mother beamed. "Wow, you look amazing. I thought you would like that one," she commented, tucking one of the hanging straps in at the side. "You ready to go?

Emily frowned. "Where's Tyler?" Not that she was complaining.

"He's not coming. He has an assignment due tomorrow that he decided to leave until the last minute. He'll be eating at his desk tonight," Lydia joked. Things were already looking up. No Tyler was always a major plus.

Grayson Manor was extremely impressive; even more so than the Davis residence which Emily hadn't believed possible. It unapologetically screamed 'excess'. Lydia must have noticed her awed expression because she chuckled while ringing the doorbell. "Big, isn't it?"

The young girl nodded. "Definitely." She couldn't believe that was where Daniel lived. She knew the Graysons were well off but hadn't expected such grandeur. Nolan hadn't been joking when he labelled Victoria 'Queen of the Hamptons'.

It was her classmate who opened the door. "Hi Emily," Daniel greeted her with a wide smile before remembering himself. "Good evening, Ms. Davis."

Lydia chuckled. "Good evening, Daniel."

"Come in," he gestured for them to enter and closed the door when they had. They were soon joined by Victoria and Mr. Grayson. Conrad, she remembered was his name from the plaque outside his office.

"Good, you're here. We're so glad that you could join us," the matriarch gave them a kiss on the cheek. "Emily, I suppose you already know my husband, Conrad?"

"Actually, we haven't met yet. Thankfully, one might say," the principal joked but their was a certain stiffness to his demeanor. He shook his newest student's hand. "It's a pleasure to meet you, Emily."

The blond smiled politely. "The pleasure is all mine."

Victoria eyed the young girl curiously. There had definitely been a change in her since they last met, something that she couldn't quite define. Yes, she was evidently more confident but there was something else... "Well, dinner won't be served for at least fifteen minutes so, Daniel, why don't you bring Emily to meet Charlotte?"

Her son seemed to think it was a great idea. "Sure, follow me," he instructed her, smile unfaltering since they arrived. Daniel led her through a large archway and into what she assumed was the living room. Their family portrait adorned the wall above the vast fireplace. They all seemed gloriously happy in the moment. Emily couldn't help but wonder if it was deceptive; if they looked at it each day and laughed because it was far from the truth.

A little girl, who Emily assumed was Charlotte, saw them enter and ran to Daniel, burying her face in his side. All the blond could see was a brown eye and half a timid smile. "Danny, who's that?" she wondered curiously.

He chuckled. "This is Emily, Charlie. She's Tyler's sister and we have some classes together at school."

"Tyler?" Charlotte's face lit up. There must have been something seriously wrong with the girl if she had that reaction to hearing his name, Emily thought.

"I think she's got a bit of a crush," Daniel explained, amusement set in his expression.

"How?" the blond asked as if it was totally inconceivable.

He shrugged, eyes dark and twinkling. "I'm not sure... It doesn't matter anyway because no boy will ever be good enough for my little Charlie!" the eldest Grayson scooped his little sister up into his arms. "Don't tell my mom I call her that," he warned, "She hates it."

"Understood," Emily replied with a smile. There was no denying that the sight was unbelievably cute. The sixteen year old felt a pang of had always wanted a sibling when she was younger. But then she was thankful that her brother or sister wouldn't have to go through what she had. Maybe it was for the best? "How old are you, Charlotte?"

"Six!" the little girl replied, enthusiastically holding up seven fingers.

Daniel chuckled. "We're working on it," he assured her and she couldn't help but laugh.

"Emily, will you play princesses with me?" Charlotte asked with her bottom lip sticking out and her dough eyes wide.

Emily could tell she got her way a lot, especially with Daniel. She smiled widely. Who could say no? "Of course I'll play. Who doesn't like playing princesses?"

"Danny doesn't but I always make him play anyway! I always win!" the little girl declared triumphantly. Her brother nodded in agreement.

"I don't doubt that," the blond replied more for her classmate's sake than his sister's.

Daniel set her down and the gorgeous child took Emily by the hand, leading her over to her toys in the corner. "My mommy only lets me bring some toys from my playroom in here," Charlotte explained almost apologetically. The sixteen year old didn't doubt that. She probably had a store's worth of toys. "I'm Belle! You can be Ariel! I'm always Belle, she's my favourite princess."

Emily chuckled. "Well that's good because Ariel is my favourite princess."

"Really?"

She nodded. "When I was a little girl like you, my favourite teddy was Flounder. I brought him everywhere with me." The blond remembered how upset she'd been when she didn't get to take it with her. It was definitely not one of her favourite memories. "And who will Daniel be? Is he going to play with us too?" Emily added much to her friend's dismay.

Before he got a chance to protest, Charlotte exclaimed "Of course!"

"What princess is Daniel usually?" she was getting way too much enjoyment out of this. He was blushing bright red at this point. Emily almost felt sorry for the poor guy. Almost.

"Snow White!"

Emily decided to have mercy on him although she was completely amused. "Since we have two princesses now, we should let Daniel be a prince. Every princess needs a prince, doesn't she?"

Charlotte nodded and Daniel shot his classmate a gratuitous smile. "Tyler is always my prince. Danny can be yours Emily."

"Hmm, I don't know... It's not really as good a role as Snow White, is it?" the dark eyed boy mused playfully.

Emily laughed. "Definitely not. I'm sorry for your troubles."

"It's okay, I guess I could endure it for one night... Count yourself lucky that you get to be a princess. She always makes Ashley be the Sea Witch." That made Emily's night. She couldn't help but laugh. Charlotte was definitely the coolest six year old she'd ever met.

"You're definitely a princess Emily. You're pretty," the little girl insisted.

The blond had to take that as a compliment. "Thank you, but I'm not the prettiest princess in the room... Daniel is." It was just too easy.

He rolled his eyes. "You better watvh yourself Ariel or I'll toss you back into the sea. You're not getting your hands on any of my kingdom now!"

When Victoria entered the family room to tell the kids that dinner was ready, she saw Daniel and Emily enthusiastically playing with Charlotte. Her son seemed to be enjoying himself a lot more than usual, that was for sure.

"I now pronounce you King and Queen," Charlotte announced gleefully.

The matriarch shook her head to herself. "Okay your hignesses, it's time for the feast." They all turned to look at her. Daniel blushed while Emily just removed the plastic crown from her head and climbed to her feet, trying to regain feeling in her legs. Victoria left the room again and headed for the dining room. Daniel looked a little too comfortable with the Princess Bride.

"So, Emily, how are you finding school?" Conrad asked as they ate.

The blond smiled. "I really like it so far. I've made friends and settled in a lot quicker than I had expected."

"That's good," Victoria commented, "I knew you would like it there."

"And how do you find the staff?"

Emily paused. Probably best to focus on the positives. "I really like Mr. Clarke. His classes are really enjoyable. I like Mr. Mathis too."

Conrad chuckled but without much humour. "Everyone does." There was something in his tone that she couldn't quite figure out. Victoria immediately changed the topic of conversation.

The rest of the dinner was uneventful, except for Emily falling in love with the tiramisu. They returned home close to ten.

"Did you have a nice time?" Lydia asked as they re-entered the house.

Emily nodded. "Yeah. Charlotte is such a cutie. She's got everyone wrapped around her finger," she chuckled while removing her cardigan.

Her adopted mother nodded. "Don't I know it. You and Daniel seem to be getting along well..."

The sixteen year old rolled her eyes. She had known something like this was coming. "Daniel is really nice but we're just friends," Emily assured her. It was obvious that the older woman would love nothing more than for them to get together.

"Whatever you say..."

She began to ascend the stairs. "I'm going to bed now, before you marry me off."

Lydia chuckled. "Sleep well." Theirs now felt like a real mother-daughter relationship. It was like Emily had been there all along.


	10. Chapter 10

Sorry if you don't find this chapter satisfying. I'm not really too fond of it myself. I know exactly where I'm going and I more or less know how to get there but it takes a bit of time. I really hope you can bear with me :) Thanks for your support and please feel free to give me your thoughts if you think I could improve in some way!

Chapter 10

"So, on a scale of one to ten, just how torturous was dinner with Cruella Deville and her minions?" Nolan joked when they all met before school the next morning. They sat on the steps outside the building which had become somewhat of a ritual.

Emily chuckled. "It actually wasn't that bad. It was just dinner. I got to spend some time with Daniel's little sister too which was actually really nice."

Amanda arched an eyebrow. "What? So Victoria didn't offer up a pre-meal sacrifice of virgin blood?" she asked playfully while writing down anything and everything in order to complete her history essay. She just couldn't have been bothered to do it the night before.

"No. I must have missed that part..." the newest addition to the group joked.

Amanda continued to write like her life depended on it. Jack made sure that she was completely engrossed before winking at his friends."Hey 'Manda, isn't that your dad coming this way?"

His girlfriend tossed her notebook behind a bush out of some kind of panicked reflex. "What? Where? Did he see me?" her eyes scanned their surroundings. When she didn't see him she frowned. Jack burst out laughing and Nolan joined him. Emily just gave an amused chuckle. Amanda punched the dark haired boy's arm. "You're such a jerk! I can't believe you did that! I hope you feel really bad when my own father fails me!" she pouted.

He kissed her on the cheek as she folded her arms across her chest. "I'm sorry; I just couldn't resist."

"Yeah well you can go get my book now."

Jack held up his hands in playful surrender. "Alright, alright. I'm going." He hopped over the wall and fished the notebook out of the bush, hissing when a thorn pricked him. His girlfriebd snatched it back and got back to writing.

They continued to converse about everything and nothing. Emily watched her fellow students and some teachers walk by. She was definitely happy that they no longer stared at her like a new animal at the zoo. The novelty had worn off quickly. Some even smiled when they caught her eye.

There was one person who wasn't smiling, however: Mr. Mathis.

He walked up the pavement towards the scbool with a cup of coffee in hand and a pained expression on his face. He looked terrible; worse than the day before and then some. His blue eyes were framed with a dull redness as if he had been rubbing them too muchand he was pale. They locked eyes and there was a flicker of something on the counsellor's face that Emily couldn't figure out. It was gone just as soon as it had appeared, replaced with a look of total neutrality. Mr. Mathis just greeted her and her friends with a curt nod before walking inside.

"Wow, someone had a rough night," Nolan remarked in an amused tone, "Wonder what he was up to?"

"It wasn't anything good by the looks of it. He looks like hell bitchslapped him." Jack replied.

Amanda looked up. "Who?"

"Mathis."

"Yeah, he didn't look great when Ems ran into him yesterday either... You think he's sick?"

Emily frowned. He hadn't seemed sick when they spoke. There was this sinking feeling in her stomach that she had made it worse rather than better. Was it actually a cold or was it something more? Was it even her business? The answer to that was no, it was not. The blond shouldn't even care but yet she did for reasons sbe couldn't even begin to understand or justify. It was all very confusing. Emily was pretty sure that she shouldn't be feeling like she was but she couldn't help it. "Maybe..." she answered in a small voice.

They were all so caught up with their guidance counsellor that none of them saw Mr. Clarke approach until it was too late. He just stood there wearing an amused expression as he watched his daughter write furiously.

Jack's eyes widened and he nudged his girlfriend. "Um... 'Manda?"

She let out an annoyed huff. "What, Jack? I'm trying to get this stupid essay done!" the blond shot back without tearing her eyes away from the page.

"Your dad..."

Amanda scoffed. "Yeah right. I'm not going to fall for that one again."

Mr. Clarke winked at Emily. "Stupid essay you say? That wouldn't happen to be the one due for second period, would it?"

The seventeen year old froze at the sound of her father's voice. She slowly closed the book and looked up at him with a sheepish smile. "Nope... this is the one due for fourth period English; which, by the way, is a lot less fun than history. The teacher just isn't as good..."

Mr. Clarke rolled his eyes. "I didn't see this. Have it done by second period," he warned before turning and heading inside.

"Will do!" his daughter beamed and called after him before re-opening her notebook as quick as she could and picking up where she left off. 88888888

Humanities was the third class of the morning. Things had calmed down a lot since Emily's dispute with the teacher that first day. That was mainly because she had learned to keep her mouth shut no matter how provocative Ms. Crowley was. As usual she took her seat next to Daniel.

"Good morning," he beamed at her.

The blond chuckled softly. "Good morning, Daniel." She definitely felt different about him after seeing him interact with his little sister the previous night. Emily could officially conclude that he was nothing like Tyler.

"Last night was fun. Charlotte hasn't stopped talking about you. Since you and Lydia left she's been asking us when she'll get to see you again."

Emily smiled. "I like her too. She's extremely cute."

"Yeah, she is," Daniel replied and there was a certain unease to his voice. He opened his mouth to say somrthing but shut it again when no words came out.

She frowned. "Is something wrong?" He was about to answer when Ms. Crowley announced her presence and everyone fell silent. Daniel just shook his head. They didn't get a chance to talk again in that class.  
888888888

Aiden was tired. It was the only thing he could think about for more than a minute at a time. He had fallen asleep in his office earlier that morning but thankfully was woken by the knocking of a student with whom he had an appointment. After that, he'd felt bad; these students needed him to do his job to the best of his ability. They counted on him. No matter how exhausted, he still had a job to do. The guidance counsellor made sure that when he was in his office alone, there was always something to keep him occupied and awake.

"Rough night?" David Clarke asked as he sat down next to his colleague and best friend in the staff room at lunch. He had a coffee in one hand, a stack of notebooks in the other and a pen behind his ear.

Aiden nodded. "Couldn't sleep. I'd give anything to just go to bed now," he said and took a bite of his apple, which apparently was more effective in waking someone than coffee according to the internet.

The older man chuckled. "I know what that feels like," he paused, "Something on your mind?"

They had a really good relationship. He always felt that he could tell David anything... well, most of the time. "Yeah, but I've got it covered." That was a lie but there were some things one shouldn't say out loud. Especially when it involved a student who was also David's daughter's best friend.

The History teacher arched an eyebrow. "You sure?"

"Positive."

David took his friend's word for it. When and if the Englishman wanted to tell him, he would tell him. There was no need to push him. "You don't feel like grading twenty four essays on the rise of Fascism in Europe, do you?" he asked with a wry smile.

Aiden chuckled. "No thank you. I'm not that tired!"

"Suit yourself, but you'll be missing out on some really interesting historical facts. Just so you know..." the older man said playfully. "I can't wait to see what Amanda has written. I caught hr doing the essay before school this morning. She actually thinks that I didn't know she hadn't got it done."

"You never know, it could be the most brilliant and ground-breaking essay you could ever hope to read. Some people work better under pressure like that."

"As a teacher I'm inclined to believe you, but as her father I'm going to be on her case from now on!" he laughed. "Just look at this," David opened his daughter's copy on the right page and Emily's, whose was just below it.

Aiden could immediately see the difference. Amanda's was barely legible while the other was neat and even had the quotes in red pen. "Touché," he conceded with a smile.

It was a major relief that he still felt somewhat normal around his best friend. There was actually some escaping this Emily conundrum. It was then that he realised something: yes, he was strangely attracted to the newest student, but that didn't mean anything had to change. He was still in control. Surely there were tonnes of teachers who felt attracted to a student, accepted their... crush, for lack of a better word, and got on with things. Aiden didn't have to act on anything and he wouldn't. Besides, he was fairly certain it wasn't a mutual attaction.

After his deduction, the guidance counsellor felt a lot better. 8888888

"Hey Emily, how are you?' Ashley asked with what Emily could tell was forced enthusiasm as the latter was washing her hands in the bathroom nearing the end of lunch.

She frowned slightly but not enough to draw the otherr girl's attention. "I'm good, thank you. How are you?"

"Good. Daniel told me that you were over at his place for dinner last night."

Oh, so that was what this was about. Emily knew Ashley wasn't just talking to her for the good of her health. She should have guessed. "Yeah, I was," the blond replied bluntly while drying her hands with a paper towell.

The exceptionally beautiful teen smiled softly. "I really hope Victoria didn't do anything to scare you off. I know very well how protective she is of her family."

"No, Victoria was perfectly nice. But she and Lydia are like sisters so it's only to be expected," Emily explained, "I spent most of the night with Daniel and little Charlotte though. She is so adoreable. Daniel told me she hasn't stopped talking about me since we left. We had a lot of fun playing princesses. She even let her brother by my prince," she milked it for all it was worth. The blond wasn't trying to be nasty, merely attempting to wind her classmate up a little. She had a feeling she was envious.

Ashley's jaw visably clenched. "Yes, Daniel mentioned. Charlotte loves meeting new people. I almost consider her a sister by now. I love her to bits. She loves me too."

"I'm sure she does," her tone was indifferent. Emily didn't really care if the brunette felt threatened by her. If she was that scared of losing Daniel then she should really do something about it instead of trying to fend off any girl who comes in contact with him.

The English girl suddenly got an idea. "You know, we should hang out. I want to get to know you better. My mother just gifted me a makeover for two at MAC in the mall. I was going to go on Saturday, would you like to come with? For some girly bonding?"

Emily hesitated. She didn't really know what to say to that. 'Girly bonding' with Ashley wasn't exactly high on her list of priorities. The other girl noticed her indecision. "Oh come on! It will be fabulous. They show you these really great techniques. I would love for you to come."

The blond somehow found herself agreeing. She wanted to find out more about Ashley. Emily put on her best smile. "I would love to go. Thank you for asking."

"My pleasure," Ashley flashed her a dazzlingly white smile. "We should exchange numbers to sort out the details..."

Amanda was definitely going to make fun of her for this. But hanging with Ashley couldn't be that bad... Right?


End file.
